Goals are awesome. They keep us motivated and moving in a direction to be better.

But here’s the thing: these same goals can be useless if they’re impossible to attain.

SMART goals are a framework used to build intelligent marketing goals that are motivational, but also attainable. So let’s start with one that we’d all like to do: “have our website perform better”. That’s a goal, but it’s not a SMART goal.

So let’s run “have our website perform better” through the SMART framework and you’ll see how much of a better goal we’ll get on the other side.

1) Specific

Your goal needs to be specific. Instead of something like “have the website perform better”, you’ll want to say “increase leads from the website”.

Being specific means it’s accountable and something that can actually succeed.

Current SMART goal status: “Increase leads from the website”

2) Measurable

Going along with our specific example, you’ll notice that it was “increase in leads”. This is measurable and uses past data to make sure it’s in line with current performance. If past data isn’t available, then use your gut initially to start and from there see how the campaign performs.

The important thing here is that the goal has numbers to back it up. It’s not about how it “feels” performing, but rather how it actually is performing.

Current SMART goal status: “Increase leads from the website by 100%”

3) Attainable

We all want to shoot for the moon. But with a SMART goal, the plan is to build a framework for success that’s repeatable and motivational. It’s not very motivating to continually fall short, no matter how far you came each time.

So a SMART goal wouldn’t be “increase leads 100%” since that’s most likely impossible. But a number based on past performance would work, so maybe a more attainable goal is 25%.

Current SMART goal status: “Increase leads from the website by 25%”

4) Realistic

Realistic and Attainable work hand in hand. Let’s assume you were able to increase leads by 100%, how would the rest of your business react to that much of an influx of new business? Are you and your team able to fulfill the requests of that many customers?

What about ongoing support and relationships? Are you able to keep a high level of customer service? Realistic goals are not just about the finish line, but what comes next.

Current SMART goal status: “Increase leads from the website by 25%”

5) Timely

So we have a measurable, realistic, and attainable goal. It’s specific enough that we can use it work backward to build a campaign around, but it’s missing the last key component: a deadline.

Without a deadline, a goal is just a dream. You need to make sure you have a measurable and specific deadline that you can work toward. This will put your entire marketing campaign into focus. Let’s set a deadline of 3 months so we can revisit it then and tweak the plan accordingly.

So there you have it! Our new SMART marketing objective is:

Increase leads from the website by 25% in 3 months

Great! Now you need to work backward from that goal to build a campaign that will get you there. One thing that would help with this SMART goal is making sure that your website is optimized for search engines, and we have an ebook that will help make sure you avoid 10 common mistakes: